Global tourism situation in 2019 with reference to the Middle East

FITUR 2020, Madrid - Spain

From January 22 to 26, 2020, Madrid-España became the centre of the meeting and exhibition of leading tourism companies from 170 countries. The tourism fair or FITUR is held every year, and the 2020 event was a benchmark of previous achievements and experiences of the participating countries.
Making a comparison requires a statistical mentality. The 2019 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report prepared by the World Economic Forum (WEF) clarifies and details the situation and ranking of 140 countries in the world according to influencing factors on tourism competitiveness. As can also be seen in the report, countries that have a strong combination of economic development and infrastructure, public diplomacy and particular attractiveness, are positioned at the top of the list.

The general ranking consists of a combination of a series of indicators that are analyzed and classified one by one. In this regard, we can name a broad range of indicators such as Business Environment, Price Competitiveness, Security and Safety, Environmental Sustainability, Health, Air Infrastructure, Human and Labour Market, Marine and Land Infrastructure, Telecommunications, Natural Resources, International Openness and Cultural Heritage...

The Middle East countries in this report demonstrate different results, both positive and negative points. Some countries such as the United Arab Emirates (33/140) and Israel (57/140) have managed to obtain a good position, while countries such as Iran (89/140) and Jordan (84/140) are reported to have a mixed and intermediate result, and Yemen (140 / 140) as a failed state and submerged in war is in the last position of the list.
As proof, I have compared 4 countries of Iran, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Lebanon according to 6 indicators that I think are more important. Individual results are classified as 1 as the minor and 7 as the maximum point.

The comparison of these countries leads us to the following conclusions:

- Although Iran's Infrastructures for international tourism are defective and obsolete due to the effect of the sanctions, however, that country offers very competitive prices that can be advantageous for specific low-cost travellers.
-The four countries of this chart, especially Oman, have had improvements in providing security for foreign tourists, which makes us deny that the Middle East is a necessarily insecure region.
- Unlike expectations, these countries gain intermediate-good levels in health and hygiene. This indicator is important for travellers since health risk is a potential reason to think twice before stepping on tourist destinations.
-By the way, these countries have not worked enough to open outwards, and this indicator confirms this. As long as local institutions do not adopt a solid international approach that provides an attractive environment for foreign tourists who have different cultures, the full potential cannot be exploited.